By Phil Boykin, VBWA President & CEO

The 2025 General Assembly gaveled in this week for a “short” 45-day session, then immediately went home due to a water failure in the City of Richmond.

The General Assembly will return to the Capitol on Monday, Jan. 13, where Gov. Glenn Youngkin will give his State of the Commonwealth address and lawmakers will get back to the process of conducting the people’s business.

It’s expected to be a hyper-partisan Session, with elections for the 100 members House of Delegates, Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General this November.

• The Democrats go into the Session with a slim majority in both chambers (51-49 in the House, and 21-19 Senate) and are expected to send plenty of “red meat” issues to the Republican Governor, which he will likely veto.
• Gov. Youngkin is prohibited from seeking re-election, but several sitting members of the General Assembly are looking for promotions to higher office.

All this is to say: The 2025 Session will largely be a year of political theater.

On the ABC front, VBWA and our partners are not expecting any surprises in terms of legislation. As it is an election year, there will be some business-related bills to keep us engaged. As always during the Session, we meet weekly with the VBWA Board of Directors to review bills to determine the Association’s positions, which tend to evolve. Legislation can be introduced until Friday, Jan. 17, so we’ll have more bills to report in the days ahead.

Until then, listed here are highlights of Alcoholic Beverage Control and business-related legislation of interest to beer wholesalers introduced to date. Should you want more details, you can go directly to the bill summary, bill history, and bill text by clicking the bill number.

ABC Advertising

SB909 (Stanley): Alcohol/Nicotine Advertising at Motor Speedways

Sen. Bill Stanley (R-Franklin) wants to remove a long-standing prohibition of advertising alcohol and nicotine products at motor sports facilities.

• VBWA position: We recognize this is a complicated issue, but we have concerns that the bill would increase marketing to underage consumers, as well as open the door to allowing for alcohol advertising that is currently prohibited in other sports and entertainment venues. The VBWA Board is reviewing the issue and we’ll have more to report.

HB1981 (Helmer): Alcohol Sales Based Fundraisers

After running into issues with ABC for trying to tie beer sales to charitable donations for hurricane relief, the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild asked Del. Dan Helmer (D-Fairfax) to help them with a fix.

• VBWA position: We are working with ABC and the patron to see if we can work through various concerns with the legislation as drafted.

ABC Enforcement

HB1925 (Ward): Enforcement of Shoplifting

After years of relying on local law enforcement to handle policing of shoplifting in their retail stores, ABC is getting pushback from local law enforcement who resent having to dedicate resources to an entity with its own law enforcement division. The bill patron is Del. Jeion Ward (D-Hampton).

• VBWA position: Monitoring, as it could impact the ability of ABC to enforce trade practice issues. We could also see a Senate version of this bill.

HB1946 (Hope): Policing Nicotine

Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington) has tried for years to give a government entity the ability to license and enforce state and federal laws related to underage sales of nicotine products. HB1946 is his latest attempt in that effort.

• VBWA position: Monitoring. Del. Hope is putting nicotine enforcement under ABC without adequate funding, so it could impact trade practice enforcement.

ABC Tied House Issues

HB1655 (Helmer): Cross-Tier Employment

The Virginia Craft Brewers Guild has long sought to allow their employees to also work at other licensed retailers. A similar bill was introduced and defeated in 2020.

• VBWA position: Opposed. The Guild clams they can’t find enough people to work in their breweries, but we are concerned cross-tier employment would allow brewers to place their people into retail accounts and unduly influence what beers are carried.

HB1703 (Bulova) & SB834 (Favola): Tied House Clarification

Both bills are identical and clarifying in nature. They were introduced to protect ABC’s long-standing interpretation of the law that prevents a retailer from carrying product from a manufacturer when there is common ownership. It is feared that the existing rules could be challenged in the courts; therefore, we’re getting in front of the issue and modernizing the code to reflect current practice. The bills are carried by Del. David Bulova (D-Fairfax) and Sen. Barbara Favola (D-Arlington).

• VBWA position: ABC is in favor of the legislation, with the VBWA and Virginia Wine Wholesalers Association strongly in support.

Bottle Bills/E.P.R./Litter Tax

HJ488 (Krizek): Litter Tax Modernization Study

With bottle bill and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation being pushed across the nation, we’ve been working with legislators on modernizing the state’s litter tax as a way to counter the proposals. We expected it to be an issue in the 2026 General Assembly, however, Del. Paul Krizek (D-Fairfax) decided to put in a study on the subject this year.

• VBWA position: It’s not clear if the study will get any traction, so the VBWA is monitoring for the time being.

Cannabis

HB2485 (Krizek) & SB970 (Rouse): Cannabis Retail Marketplace

There are multiple bills impacting how the Commonwealth will move forward with cannabis sales. However, the Krizek and Sen. Aaron Rouse (D-Virginia Beach) “marketplace” bills are the most comprehensive to date and the most likely to get to the Governor. Both create a legal framework for a cannabis marketplace. Similar bills passed in the 2024 Session, but were promptly vetoed by Gov. Youngkin. We expect the same this year for any cannabis bills that hit the Governor’s desk.

• VBWA position: Monitoring.

Employment Issues

SB697 (Carroll Foy): Amazon Warehouse Legislation

The Teamsters are pushing legislation that would create a special class of workplace regulations for “warehouse workers.” While Amazon is the target of the proposed legislation from Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy (D-Fairfax), it would directly impact wholesalers’ businesses. Similar proposals have passed in other states.

• VBWA position: The VBWA led a coalition to defeat a similar bill last Session and will be actively engaged again.

HB1980 (Martinez): Heat Related Illness

This legislation requires the Safety and Health Codes Board to adopt regulations establishing standards designed to protect employees from heat illness. The bill from Del. Fernando Martinez (D-Loudoun) authorizes a person aggrieved by a violation of its provisions or the regulations promulgated thereunder to seek to obtain injunctive relief, to recover statutory damages of $1,000, or both, in an action commenced within one year of the cause of action. This is not a new issue and being pushed at the federal level as well.

• VBWA position: Monitoring.

HB1766 (Martinez) & HB1767 (Martinez): Unemployment Benefits

Del. Martinez is proposing raising the maximum weekly benefit by $100 and increasing the length of payout to 26 weeks.

• VBWA position: Monitoring for the potential impact on unemployment insurance rates.

HB2481 (Krizek), SB788 (Head) & SB803 (McDougle): Workers’ Comp (Repetitive Motion)

Virginia is the last state in the nation to prohibit payout from its workers’ comp program for “repetitive motion” injuries. This is a top priority for labor advocates, so many business groups are pushing a modest proposal to counter their initiatives. The bill is backed by Del. Krizek, Sen. Christopher Head (R-Alleghany), and Sen. Ryan McDougle (R-Gloucester).

• VBWA position: Monitoring.

Taxes

HB1755 (Watts): Taxing Services

Del. Vivian Watts (D-Fairfax) is attempting to modernize the Virginia tax code and capture the service industry.

• VBWA position: Opposed. As drafted, her bill will apply a sales tax on all products delivered to beer wholesalers’ retail accounts. We do not believe that this is the intention of the patron, and are discussing with her.

SB970 (Rouse): Second Chances

Sen. Rouse, who is also running for lieutenant governor, is proposing a tax credit for any employer that hires someone previously convicted of a crime and re-entering society.

• VBWA position: Monitoring.